Washington Redskins receiver Pierre Garcon has an inflamed capsule underneath the second toe on his right foot, a recent MRI showed. He’ll rest it until he can tolerate the pain and run closer to full speed than he did during practice last week, coach Mike Shanahan said Monday.

Garcon, the Redskins‘ No. 1 receiver, injured the toe early in the Redskins‘ season-opening win over New Orleans. He didn’t return until their Week 4 win over Tampa Bay. He was deactivated for Sunday’s 38-26 victory over Minnesota after testing his foot before the game.

“That toe is just quite sore,” Shanahan said. “You could see when he’s pushing off when he goes downfield he’s just not anywhere close to full speed. I saw it in Wednesday’s practice, and I saw it in Thursday’s practice. I talked to him, and he was trying to work through it.”

The Redskins enter NFC East division play this Sunday when they travel to face the New York Giants. The winner would, at worst, be tied for first place.

“It’s just a little painful,” Shanahan said, “so hopefully with the rest and maybe a little bit of time off, he’ll be able to go and the thing will heal up.”

It was a seemingly innocent tackle on the Minnesota Vikings’ first drive of Sunday’s game at the Washington Redskins. Adrian Peterson ran for 5 yards and DeAngelo Hall brought him down, with his helmet coming off.

To the Vikings running back, it was a moment of Hall getting “caught up in his emotions.”

“He slapped me in the face. He didn’t follow through with it, but he slapped me in the face,” Peterson said Sunday after the Redskins‘ win. “I was just telling him not to do me like that, and he looked me in the eyes and he knew I meant business. But respect to him, sometimes I know you get caught up in your emotions and do things you don’t mean.”

Hall responded to that accusation Monday, calling it “asinine.” The veteran cornerback pointed out that had it been a big deal reporters would not have waited to bring it up.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Hall said on a teleconference. “For it to be brought up a day later and talking about I slapped him in the face, that’s just asinine.”

“I actually run up on him, make a tackle and my helmet kind of pops off. The momentum of me going to hit him, I kind of push right off, right after I make the tackle I push right off, I don’t know if it’s him or the ground,” he said. “That’s the only contact I had with him.”

It’s an almost ideal case of he said, he said. Replays of the incident appeared to show Hall pushing on Peterson’s helmet, but it was unclear whether he was just trying to get up.

“Once I make the play and my helmet pops off, we’re face to face but I don’t say a word,” Hall said. “I just kind of nod my head at him. That’s kind of the gist of that story.”

And Peterson’s reaction to the situation surprised Hall because of what he heard on the field when it happened.

“After the play he actually said to me, ‘That’s a good play, D-Hall. That’s a good play,’” he said. “That’s why, had he really been talking trash to me face to face and me talking trash, I think you guys know my reaction would’ve been a little different than what it was.”

Paul makes impact

Niles Paul already made his presence felt on special teams Sunday, downing a punt by Sav Rocca at Minnesota’s 4-yard line. But Paul’s play of the game was a monstrous hit on punt returner Marcus Sherels.

With 6:18 left in the fourth quarter, Sherels settled under a punt at the Minnesota 35 as Paul torpedoed toward him. Paul drilled Sherels back two yards, knocking his helmet off in the process.

“At that point in time, I say, ‘I’ve got to make this tackle.’ He didn’t fair-catch the ball, and that’s his fault,” Paul said. “I took my shot, I led with my shoulder. I felt like I made a good play.”

So did the officials, who did not throw a flag on the punishing hit.

“I felt like it was a clean hit. I let him catch the ball,” Paul said. “If I’d have waited any longer, he’d have been up the middle and impossible to make a play. So I just took a shot.”

Former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira agreed. Now a rules analyst for Fox Sports, he often posts on Twitter about questionable plays.

“He was not defenseless therefore there is no foul,” Pereira wrote. “He already caught the kick.”